London, September 15th, 2011 – Populis, Europe’s leading online vertical media publisher, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Berlin-based mokono, Germany’s largest blog network and one of Europe’s leading blog communities, a pioneer in social media advertising (www.mokono.com).

Finalised for 8.2 Million Euros, the deal comprises the total of mokono’s localised blog networks across 13 European countries and Canada adding 14 million unique monthly users across its 700,000 registered blogs to Populis’s substantial network of online media properties. Included in the deal are the influential media properties www.blog.co.uk and www.blog.de.

The acquisition provides Populis with a portfolio of new skills essential for success as a next generation media company, including the ability to truly enable the largely untapped creative class online through a comprehensive range of revenue sources. A deep understanding of content production, social and search distribution at scale, coupled with mokono’s state of the art advertising solutions that allow advertisers to succeed in the digital space, gives Populis a unique competitive edge in Europe.

Included in the acquisition is mokono’s pioneering social advertising platform, which is the first of its kind in Europe to provide advertisers with a single access to a wide range of premium and highly-customisable social advertising solutions such as social ads, videoseeding or product reviews across the mokono network and its affiliated blog portals.

‘We are delighted to welcome mokono to the Populis Group. The strategic acquisition reinforces Populis’s leadership in the production of multilingual vertical content and greatly increases its presence in key European markets such as Germany and the UK,’ said Luca Ascani, Co-Founder and Chairman of Populis.

‘In addition to a significant growth in traffic, independent websites, writers and media properties, the acquisition also greatly enhances our technology assets. mokono’s unique social advertising platform connects advertisers to bloggers, providing advertisers with a single access to one of the most influential consumer segments online. Bloggers in turn benefit from several easy to use revenue streams which they can apply to fit their individual needs.

The enhanced online advertising platform, combined with a larger audience reach, will deliver a more influential, wide-ranging advertising solution to advertisers, brands and publishers alike through the Populis network.

Vasco Sommer-Nunes and Florian Wilken, Co-founders and Managing Directors of mokono, will continue to manage the company’s operations and staff from its headquarters in Berlin.

‘Joining forces with Populis is a huge benefit to mokono with the integration into an extensive network of premium media properties. We will be able to serve advertisers and bloggers even better than before and are excited to expand our advertising services into new international markets, providing our clients with an increased demographic reach across a wider range of online media. This in turn will deliver higher visibility and more effective campaigns,’ says Vasco Sommer-Nunes, Co-Founder and Managing Director of mokono.

Past funding came in part from Burda Digital Ventures (BDV), the financial investment arm of Burda Digital, which owned a minority stake since 2007. “The mokono team has been successful in developing truly innovative business models for digital media,” said Harald Ebrecht of venture capital firm Acton Capital Partners, which managed the investment for BDV. “We very much enjoyed working with them and see a great future for mokono as part of the Populis network.”

Batley Capital Ltd was exclusive financial adviser to Populis on this transaction.

–ENDS—

About Populis

Populis is one of Europe’s fastest growing digital media companies (GP Bullhound Media Momentum Awards 2010, 2011) and European leader in the production of multilingual vertical content online. Populis crowdsources, distributes and monetizes over 35,000 items of compelling content in 8 languages per month for a vibrant network of fully owned and operated blogs, websites and web portals including Excite Europe, Better Deals, Nanopublishing, Blogo, Blogosfere.

About mokono

mokono is Germany’s largest blog network and one of the leading blogging and blog marketing platforms in Europe. Founded in 2005, mokono has over 700,000 registered blogs in 13 European countries including Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Canada.

A pioneer in Social Media Advertising, providing a vast range of tailored online advertising packages including premium display, blog and social media advertising solutions, the mokono network reaches over 14 million unique monthly visitors across mokono registered blog portals as well as independent affiliate blogs.